African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 147 Rubber planting

   One month later, when Professor Anton Perutz's team arrives in East Africa, the East African Agricultural Research Institute will be able to operate.

   August 15, 1868.

  Northern Great Lakes Region (Uganda).

  The immigrant who had just finished working on the fields began to plant trees without stopping.

  The rubber tree species imported from Brazil were planted this time. Under the guidance of Brazilian agricultural experts, the immigrants planted rubber tree seedlings according to the process.

"The saplings here should not be too close together. The ventilation and light transmission of the land must be ensured, and the transportation must be convenient, so that they can be better managed and harvested in the future." Albert Verga, a Brazilian agricultural (pseudo) expert Said to the agricultural workers in the colony.

  Albert Verga is an ordinary rubber grower in Brazil with rich planting experience.

   "The drainage work must be done well, especially those places with very gentle slopes, but the **** should not be too high, just a little bit."

   "Mr. Albert Verga, will the temperature affect the growth of rubber trees?" An East African immigrant asked.

"No, no, this is not something you should be concerned about. As long as the temperature is tropical, it can basically meet the growth needs of rubber trees. Of course, if the altitude is too high, it will definitely not work. When the temperature is lower than 5, it may frostbite rubber trees, but I have lived in Brazil for many years and I have never seen low temperatures," Albert Verga said.

   "You newcomers probably don't know that there is no spring, summer, autumn and winter in East Africa at all. The temperature is almost the same throughout the year, but it is divided into rainy season and dry season according to rainfall." An old immigrant said to a new immigrant on the side.

"That's very good. That's why we plant rubber here. The precipitation here is the most balanced and stable, so you need to plant it here on a large scale instead of other places." Albert Verga said .

Rubber trees like temperature and humidity. Temperature is not a problem in East Africa, but humidity is not easy to control. The annual precipitation in the growth area of ​​rubber trees should not be less than 1200mm. East Africa has a tropical grassland climate, and the rainfall is not very stable. The rainfall ranges from 600mm to 600mm. It fluctuates around 1100mm, and the Great Lakes region is a rare rainy area. The Great Lakes' water area is close to 70,000 square kilometers, which directly affects the local precipitation.

   "Mr. Albert Verga, what is the use of this rubber tree?" an immigrant asked.

Albert Verga shook his head and said: "I don't know how to use it. In the past, I was only responsible for planting and harvesting, and then the merchants would purchase them. I only know that the semi-finished products harvested are jelly-like substances. It will harden over time."

What Albert Verga said was true. The rubber he planted was bought by the Europeans, and the Europeans reprocessed the rubber already on the other side of the ocean. Albert Verga didn’t need to know what rubber was. No, he just needs to know that planting this thing can be exchanged for money.

  The purpose of planting rubber in East Africa is self-evident. No one knows the strategic value of rubber better than Ernst, and the demand for rubber in the future Hexingen consortium is destined to be inseparable, so it must be planned in advance.

  The growth cycle of rubber is relatively long, and it takes at least six or seven years to produce value, so plant early and harvest early in the future.

  First build a 10,000-mu rubber plantation this year, and then gradually increase it every year. More land means arrogance.

  In fact, the rubber planting conditions in East Africa are far inferior to those in West Africa, where the tropical rainforest climate is the paradise for rubber growth.

   However, planting rubber in East Africa, as long as you put in a lot of effort and ensure soil moisture and light, it is still very promising.

  The reason why they are eager to promote rubber planting along the coast of the Great Lakes is because the Great Lakes is the most suitable place for rubber planting.

If you don’t plant it now, it will take time and effort to change it in the future. All the conditions in the Great Lakes area meet the conditions for rubber planting, especially the precipitation. It is only slightly worse than the tropical rainforest climate, but it is obviously stronger than the tropical grassland climate. The dense forest near the Great Lakes Tropical rainforests are evidence of this.

   "Don't worry about the use of this thing, anyway, a lot of our food is enough. What these things are grown for is not something I should worry about."

"makes sense."

   "Mr. Albert Verga, you just said that this thing needs to be harvested. I don't know how to harvest this tree? Is it cut down when it is mature?"

  Albert Verga was speechless when he heard this. These Germans have never seen the world, and they don’t even know how rubber trees are collected.

   "No, no, everyone, I think you have misunderstood, the rubber tree is not the same as the usual trees."

   "Could it be that this thing bears fruit like a fruit tree and is picked?"

Albert Ver strengthened his smile and said: "Everyone, listen to me first, the harvesting of this rubber is like bloodletting, you have to cut a hole in it and let it bleed out , we will fix the collection container in advance, so that when the flow is full, we can collect a portion of rubber.”

   "Ah! This thing sounds so scary."

"It's not scary at all. I'm just using blood as a metaphor, which is actually the sap of this tree, and the sap of the rubber tree is white, not at all like blood. I just wanted to show the scene of collecting rubber more vividly. "Albert Verga doesn't want to hear these guys guessing and talking nonsense.

   "I see." Everyone suddenly realized.

Albert Verga went on to say: "And you don't have to worry about harvesting at all. It will take at least six or seven years for these saplings to grow up. Before that, you have no chance to touch them. Wait six or seven years In the future, it is estimated that new people will come to teach you how to collect rubber."

  …

  Albert Verga is naturally not the kind of person who can be an expert if he is found casually.

  In addition to the basic rubber planting experience, being able to speak German is the capital for East Africa to hire him to guide rubber plantation in East Africa.

  Otherwise, communication alone is a big problem, especially since many immigrants near the Great Lakes are new immigrants to East Africa in recent months.

  Among them, there are many Germans, so they can chat well with Albert Verga. Of course, the East African colony also mobilized a group of old immigrants to help the new immigrants adapt to the new life in East Africa.

  The German teachers are also stepping up preparations, and soon the East African-style compulsory education in the three newly-built districts can be carried out.

   Fortunately, the new immigrants are newcomers, even if they are families, there are not many with children. After all, the sea is risky, and those with children at home dare not gamble.

  Therefore, the education in the newly occupied areas will start with adult education, especially those Chinese, Serbs... they must first cultivate their oral communication skills.

  (end of this chapter)